Yasmin Mattox ’11

Yasmin Mattox Clears Obstacles for Students' Success

When Yasmin Mattox encounters an obstacle, she doesn’t alter her path and move around it. Nor does she turn around and retrace her footsteps. She uses the obstacle as a building block.

As a young professional and parent, Mattox encountered something that so many see as an obstacle: career advancement while raising a family. Armed with a strong liberal arts education and an inquisitive spirit, she has used the challenge to build something that will benefit her family and others in the same position.

“For millions of parents, working mothers and fathers alike, professional advancement becomes more complicated as a parent with a growing family,” says Mattox. “Without targeted support, working parents are likely to fall behind in their careers, leading to unfulfilled professional aspirations and even negative financial consequences that are harmful to them, their families, their employers, and society at large.”

Through her education – a B.S. in political science from Alfred University and an M.S. in international studies from Fisher – Mattox says she has honed her critical and adaptive thinking skills to face the issue and create something that would enhance lives. In 2017, she founded Arkatecht, a firm that provides professional advancement tools for working parents.

“I was fortunate that my interdisciplinary education has allowed me to more easily connect the dots, so to speak, and understand how the problem we’re addressing manifests in different industries and countries and put together a more enduring solution,” Mattox notes.

Her desire to help others succeed doesn’t stop with Arkatecht. Mattox gives her time and expertise to several local organizations. “I have relatively little free time, between Arkatecht and raising my children with my husband, so I look to engage in service opportunities where I can incorporate my professional and personal strengths to help as many people as quickly as possible.”

She has returned to Fisher to lend her expertise to many areas, and is always happy to give her contact information to spend one-on-one time with students. “I find my greatest joy in helping college students. It’s a time of incredible change and growth. If I can help students clear obstacles from their paths to get to a more promising future, I’m ecstatic.”